Infinity Blade II
Infinity Blade II is an action role-playing video game for the iOS mobile devices developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games released through the Apple App Store. The game is the sequel for the acclaimed Infinity Blade from the same developers. Infinity Blade II was announced on October 4, 2011 during the Apple iPhone 4S Presentation Keynote. It was subsequently released on December 1, 2011. Story Mechanic The game follows a semi-repetitive narrative structure in which the player ascends into a collapsing tower in a quest to free the Worker of Secrets, a mysterious being whom the protagonist believes will aid him in freeing humanity from the Deathless tyrants who have enslaved them. At the beginning of the game, the player's character will be slain by your partner after defeating a series of Deathless and the God-King taking back the Infinity Blade. The player then wakes in a health chamber realising that he may also be a Deathless and starts his journey to free the creator of the Infinity Blade. Gameplay At the onset you assume the role of the dead character's ascent. This cycle continues every time the player falls before a foe. As each character level passes the monster level also rises. Players do not guide the character's movement, as it is scripted. The player taps highlighted points to move from room to room. Inside each room the player can move the camera to search for treasure and potions. The primary game mechanic is one-on-one sword combat with enemies encountered throughout the scripted path. The player controls the character's weapon or weapons by swiping a finger across the screen. Players can touch the bottom left or bottom right side of the screen to dodge attacks or the bottom center of the screen to block attacks with a shield, which breaks if used too much. Now with the new dual wield weapons they may also instead of blocking perform a downwards dodge. Finally, players may parry incoming attacks by performing an intercepting sword move. Each of these three counters leaves the enemy vulnerable to counterattack for a short period. Players may also use two special abilities, both of which require time to recharge after use. Tapping the icon on the top left unleashes the Super Attack, which stuns the opponent temporarily. Magic is activated by tapping the icon on the top right, and then drawing a magical symbol. Available symbols to draw show up on the screen after pressing the magic icon, and the symbols you may draw are determined by the ring the player is wearing. While swiping to attack, there are three types of combos one can perform. Left, right, left, or the opposite, is a Huge Hit, dealing the most damage possible in three hits. Left, left, right, right (or the opposite, right, right, left, left) is a Mega Hit which deals the most possible damage in four hits. Left, right, up down, left is an Ultra Hit, which deals a ton of damage, the most damage players can possibly achieve when fighting. In addition to combat, there is also a mild role-playing element. An experience points system levels up the player and the player's equipment, which consists of weapons, armor, shields, helms, and magic rings. There are 3 different kinds weapons, heavy, regular, and dual-wield. Pieces of equipment have special properties and a predetermined amount of experience points required to master them. Mastering a piece of equipment increases its sale value but it decreases the experience the player receives by one fifth. A difference from the original game is that the player can only sell an item of which at least two copies are owned. Players gain points when their experience level increases or they master a piece of equipment; these points can be spent to improve the character's health, attack, shield power and magic. Players can purchase new equipment using in-game money taken from the castle or from defeated enemies. As in the first Infinity Blade, you may find chests in certain areas of the game. However, in this game, there are different levels of chests that require different sized keys, ranging from small, to medium, and to large. The chests are indicated by a colored triangle symbol above the chest, and the color of the triangle identifies the size of key required to open it. While the overall mood of the game is serious, the presence of references to real-world subjects offer a more jovial tone. As of now, there are two such references known. The "Holiday Helm" helmet, with a design changing to match the current holiday season (Frosty the Snowman for christmas, an egg-shape for easter, ...), is offered in the in-game store, as well as a ring by the name of "Spike VGA". The latter is a reference to the annual Spike Video Game Awards, which nominated the game's predecessor for Best Handheld/Mobile Game in 2011. Yet another item is called "The Patriot", which is like Captain America's newest shield, sans the color. Plot The game begins with Siris, the main character, and Isa arriving at an Asian-themed estate. Isa warns Siris not to go further, but he refuses and starts towards the entrance. He kills all the guards and comes on Saydhi. The Deathless orders her champion to battle Siris in a fair duel. Siris slays the brute easily and heads up to receive his reward from Saydhi. Saydhi attempts to offer him a place as one of her champions, but Siris simply restates his cause. He then asks where he can find the The Worker of Secrets. Saydhi grows suspicious, but tells Siris the location and attacks him shortly after. Siris defeats her and notices a pedestal with a keyhole that fits the Infinity Blade. He proceeds to slide the sword in it. There is a strange grinding noise and the pedestal sinks into the floor. Suddenly, Raidriar (The God King) appears behind Siris, now fitted with a new organic armor. The Dark Knight materializes and hands him the Infinity Blade. The God King explains the trap and calls the player "Ausar ". He then takes his sword and prepares to stab Siris. However, Isa then appears and shoots Siris in the head, killing him abruptly. Later, Siris awakes in a chamber. He and Isa conclude he is a Deathless who has lost his memory, explaining why Isa shot him with her crossbow. Had Siris been stabbed with the Infinity Blade he would have lost his life permanently, due to the fact the Blade is now active. Isa then departs, saying her quest at the moment is to find and recover The Infinity Blade. Siris proceeds to the Vault Of Tears (the location Saydhi gave him) and battles Thane, High Lord of House Ix. He defeats him, and proceeds to unlock a seal in the floor, killing himself in the process. After his reincarnation, he duels the three Sentinels; the Archivist, Stone Demon, and MX-Goliath guarding the Worker of Secrets, unlocking a seal after each battle and being reborn again. After unlocking all the seals, Siris continues to where he fought Thane only to find him alive, due to Thane being a Deathless. The two duel once again, with Siris winning by knocking Thane off the tower. Siris then opens the chamber to the Worker of Secrets where Thane engages Siris in battle once again. The fight ends when the Worker of Secrets disrupts Thane's Quantum Identity Pattern by placing his hand on his back, granting him a true death. Siris requests the Worker of Secret's aid, but the Worker reveals that he can only be freed if Raidriar takes his place in the prison. Siris expresses his doubt that he can defeat The God King, but states that he will do what it takes. He journeys to where he fought Saydhi and challenges Raidriar to a duel. After defeating three of Raidriar's minions, he engages Raidriar in battle once again, defeating him. Siris knocks him out with a swift blow to the head and brings him back to the Worker of Secrets`s eternal prison. There, Siris dumps Radriar`s still unconscious body and prepares to leave the holding cell with the Worker. He then stabs The Infinity Blade into the ground and the Worker Of Secrets grabs on to the sword expectantly. Suddenly, a blue light stuns Siris and blasts him off The Infinity Blade, apparently paralyzing him. The Worker explains that for him to truly escape, another Deathless must take his place. He then reveals that it was actually Siris (back when he was known as the Deathless Ausar) who imprisoned him, not The God King. Weak and disoriented, Siris watches as the Worker escapes with The Infinity Blade, leaving him locked up in the Vault with Raidriar, yelling in anger and regret. Later, in a post-credits scene, Isa is shown walking to the Vault Of Tears, presumably to rescue Siris. Reception Infinity Blade II garnered critical acclaim from many major video game critics. IGN gave Infinity Blade II a perfect score of 10/10 and also stating that "Infinity Blade 2 is a must own". Infinity Blade II is also the first iOS game to get a perfect score on IGN. GameSpot gave the game a score of 9/10, calling it "The Perfect Sequel". The game had a critical bug affecting lots of players where the game resets and the current experience, level and equipment are lost after varying amounts of time. With the 1.0.2 update, the save bug is fixed and several objects and equipment add-ons are released in the game store. Links *Official site *[http://itunes.apple.com/app/id447689011 Infinity Blade II] at the iTunes Preview Category:2011 video games Category:Most Wanted Games